in , , ,

One-Stop (Cruelty-Free) Shop: Cruelty-Cutter App Review

One-Stop (Cruelty-Free) Shop: Cruelty-Cutter App Review

The Beagle Freedom Project‘s Cruelty-Cutter app is a quick, easy resource to determine whether a potential beauty product is just not ethically for you.

It is important to me to purchase cruelty-free beauty products (and is one of the roots of my desire to make my own). But I must admit that I have occasionally found myself in a beauty-supply aisle comparing prices unexpectedly due to a sale or examining a different product out of pure curiosity.  Isn’t that frustrating?  How might I determine, right then and there, whether the product I’m considering has been tested on animals?  Well, I could whip out my phone and do a little online research while my toddler pitches toothbrushes at my head (which I would, of course, do, head wounds or no).  BUT, I could also effortlessly use the Cruelty-Cutter app.

The Cruelty-Cutter app, developed by the Beagle Freedom Project in partnership with Mobile Matters, allows you to scan the barcode on the product-in-question and almost immediately informs you as to the brand’s animal-testing practices.  If you’ve scanned an item whose mothership is not cruelty-free, you are given the opportunity to “BITE BACK” by posting the information to Facebook or Twitter and to explore a cruelty-free alternative.  If you’ve scanned an item made by a company with ethical practices, you may share the news via social media, add the item to a “Favorites” list, or continue on to the product’s Website.  If, by chance, you happen to scan a product which the app does not recognize, you may submit the product for review.  The product’s company will be contacted directly to determine the status of the product.

I tried the Cruelty-Cutter app out in a few different establishments, scanning everything from Dr. Bronner’s to good ol’ Herbal Essences, and it works like a charm.

The app costs a well-spent $2.99, and the proceeds go to the Beagle Freedom Project to help them relocate lab beagles to loving homes.  According to the Beagle Freedom Project, “Beagles are the most popular breed for lab use because of their friendly, docile, trusting, forgiving, people-pleasing personalities. The research industry says they adapt well to living in a cage, and are inexpensive to feed. Research beagles are usually obtained directly from commercial breeders who specifically breed dogs to sell to scientific institutions.”

Runway model Catherine McNeil has also recently partnered with the Beagle Freedom Project to promote the Cruelty-Cutter app, which will likely give the organization (and this fabulous app) some much-needed attention.

Written by Leah Gehlsen Morlan

lives and works in Iowa City, Iowa. She has a film degree from the University of Iowa, and her interests include: watching & writing about film, chasing her kids around, childbirth, healthy cooking & living, and DIY body & baby products. Find me on Google+.

Valentine Ideas: Seed Paper Hearts

Valentine Ideas for Him: Seed Paper Hearts

Exercise for Kids is Almost Trendy

Exercise for Kids is Almost Trendy. Almost.